Bills target maintenance of flags at veterans' graves

Nancy Reardon Stewart

Thursday

Mar 24, 2011 at 12:01 AMMar 24, 2011 at 10:22 AM

The American and commemorative flags that will soon dot the landscape, especially in cemeteries and memorial grounds, are as much a part of the New England landscape as spring flowers. But these symbols of pride and respect can actually be the cause of frustration to families of service members, groundskeepers and the veterans services workers who struggle to maintain them.

The American and commemorative flags that will soon dot the landscape, especially in cemeteries and memorial grounds, are as much a part of the New England landscape as spring flowers.

But these symbols of pride and respect can actually be the cause of frustration to families of service members, groundskeepers and the veterans services workers who struggle to maintain them.

The flags get damaged, stolen, desecrated or never put up at all.

The flags are put up largely by volunteers, and there is no legal requirement that anyone do it. Cemetery workers remove the flags, at varying times, which can upset family members who don’t consider them temporary decor.

Several bills filed this year attempt to regulate the process at public and private cemeteries. They were vetted at a public hearing Wednesday with the Legislature’s joint committee on veterans and federal affairs.

They seek, in different ways, to smooth out some of the hidden tensions behind the seemingly innocuous flags.

Right now, the managers of public and private cemeteries have the discretion to remove any flowers, tokens or flags at a site. A bill filed by state Rep. Kathi-Anne Reinstein, D-Revere, would lift their authority to take down the flags or flag holders, which many do once Memorial Day and the Fourth of July pass.

“It’s very personal and disrespectful when the flags are removed without the consent of the loved one,” Reinstein said. “The cemetery takes them all up and throws them in a shed. They consider it a decoration.”

But as Richard Walsh, Braintree’s veterans services agent, pointed out, not everyone thinks the flags should stay up all the time either.

“A lot of people feel as though they should not be left up year-round out of respect for the flag, due to weather and so on,” Walsh said. “I periodically make checks, and if I see ones torn or damaged, I’ll dispose of them properly.”

Another bill, filed by state Sen. Jennifer Flanagan, D-Leominster, seeks to make it a statutory requirement that the flags go up in the first place.

Her bill, filed on behalf of a constituent, would make it a legal requirement for all public cemeteries to put up American and commemorative flags reflecting the veterans’ period of service at every grave, and American flags at every police and firefighter grave. The city and towns would be required to foot the cost.

Private cemeteries would also be required to post and pay for flags, at the request of family.

Local veterans service agents currently lead the task of putting up the flags each spring, working from local records listing the names and locations of veterans' graves.

They work with teams of volunteers and say, given the volume of work, they don’t often miss any sites in their records.

Walsh, in Braintree, is responsible for more than 8,000 graves in the town’s public and private cemeteries.

Michael Cunningham, Milton’s recently appointed agent, said when he previously worked in Hingham and Hull he maintained records for six cemeteries with a few thousand graves of veterans.

The problem, he said, is not putting up the flags. It’s making sure people don’t damage or steal them. A few years ago in Hingham, people were plucking off the flags and impaling them on their staffs, he said.

Both bills make it a crime to damage or steal a flag, with penalties from $1,000 to $5,000 and up to 90 days in jail.

The state last year toughened the punishment for desecrating a grave or memorial, approving a fine of up to $3,000 and 500 hours of community service. State Sen. Robert Hedlund, R-Weymouth, pushed the measure after four local teens were charged with knocking over or breaking 91 headstones at the Evergreen Cemetery off Green Street in Kingston, including the town’s Veterans of Foreign Wars memorial.

Nancy Reardon Stewart may be reached at nstewart@ledger.com.

READ MORE about this issue.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.